Foundation garment



Aug- 29, 1961 A. L. RUBIN FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed June 16. 1959INVENTOR. ARTHUR RUBI N Ww ATTOR EY United States Patent 2O 2,998,011FOUNDATION GARMENT Arthur L. Rubin, Brookline, Mass. (365 NE. '171stTerrace, North Miami Beach 62, Fla.) Filed June 16, 1959, Ser. No.820,692 7 Claims. (Cl. :12S-S28) This invention relates generally tofoundation garments and is concerned more particularly with the class ofgarments commonly including panty -girdles, corselettes, and likearticles.

Although there are innumerable girdle designs presently available,considerable consumer `criticism still exists with respect to theproblems imposed during normal wear. Thus, while modern materials haveimproved these garments in terms of lightness, comfort and control, thebasic problem of personal convenience to the wearer of the garment hasnot heretofore been satisfactorily resolved. Even the advent of theslide fastener many decades ago, while significantly improving someaspects of convenience did not solve the underlying defect.

In girdles and corsets of the non-panty type, that is, the type havingentirely open lower portions, rear and front aps which may be attachedand detached by a variety of fastening means are clearly well known. Inthe panty girdle or corselette the detachable crotch has also beenavailable for some time. But despite the continued need, there has beenno satisfactory solution to the problem of conveniently permitting thewearer of a panty girdle to be free of the lower confining leg portionsthereof without the time consuming and often annoying need to pull downor remove the garment entirely. Moreover, each time a foundation garmentis taken off and put on, the controlling, elastic qualities of thegarment are placed under considerable stress and, eventually, thegarment loses both its shape and its ability to shape the wearers body.

It is an object of my invention accordingly, to provide a panty girdlehaving ready means for removing a large area of the lower leg enclosingportion thereof without requiring the whole garment to be lowered orremoved.

Another object of the invention is to provide -a foundation article witha semi-detachable portion having the structural integrity and shapingeffectiveness of conven tional girdles which must be removed in theirentirety or otherise lowered.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a garment hawng apartially removable lower section, a detaching arrangement which is bothcertain and safe but which does not measurably inconvenience the wearerin detaching and reattaching.

A further object of the invention is to provide the aforesaid objects ina foundation garment having all the criteria of comfort, lightness,washability and durability desired in the more conventionally designedarticle.

In the accomplishment of these and other objects' of the invention Iprovide for a panty girdle, corselette, or like foundation articledivided into two sections, an upper, body enclosing section; and alower, leg enclosing section. The two sections are detachably connectedby a fastening means preferably of the guided, continuous type such as aslide fastener. This fastener begins near the outer side of one leg anddescribes an upward arc over the back of the garment, then downward to acorresponding point on the outer side of the other leg off the garment.

A feature of this invention is that one end of the fastener opens oneleg portion of the garment, permitting the closed end of the fastenerbeing at the other leg.

Another feature of the invention is that the closed end of the fastenerdoes not allow the upper and lower sectionsl to be separated completely.

A further feature of the invention is that the arc described by thefastener over the back of the garment is located so as to assure thecomfort of the wearer and a smooth unbroken line beneath close fittingouter garments. i k

` Still another feature of the invention is that the fastening means maybe chosen and located, with regard to its function, as a structurallysignificant molding and shaping element. That is, a fastener of themetallic slide type has considerable tensile resistance in alldirections; while extruded plastic slide fasteners or the tufted(Velcro) fasteners have some give along their length.

A still lfurther feature of the fastening arrangement described is itsuse in permitting easier putting on of the garment.

An additional feature of the fastening arrangement is that when closedthere is substantially no interference with the normal fabric panelfunctions, namely, the stretch and non-stretch of the other parts of thegarment. Moreover, the terminal closing point of the fastener is readilyaccessible to the wearer making opening a simple operation.

Another feature of the invention is that closing the fastener can beperformed without observation of the fastener or attention thereto.

A further feature of the invention is the continuation of all verticalfabric panels on opposite sides of the fastener.

Still another feature of the invention is that a detachable crotch orcrotch liner may be used if desired without in any way lessening theadvantages already enumerated.

Thes'e and other features of the invention will become more apparent asthe description proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawing inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a foundation garment from a back quartershowing a slide fastener connectibly attaching an upper body section andlower leg section of said garment.

FIG. 2 is a side view of Ia detail of the invention showing the closedend of the otherwise opened fastener on one leg at the outer sidethereof.

FIG. 3 is a view of the back of the garment with the leg sectionunfast'ened from the body section and swung partially forward.

FIG. 4 is a view of the closed gar-ment from a back quarter showing thedisposition of the various parts of the Igarment: when the wearer issitting.

Basically a foundation garment 10 embodying the present invention willconsist of an upper, body enclosing section 12 and a lower leg andbuttock enclosing section 14. Together, the two sections 12 and 14 forma kind of foundation garment commonly termed a panty girdle. Thedistinguishing feature of this girdle '10 is the inclusion of a fastenerarrangement 16 which detachably connects the two sections 12 and 14.

The back View of the girdle 10 shown in FIGS. l, 2, and 3 showsgenerally the placement of the fastener 16. The fastener 16 has itsorigin `18 near an outer side 20 of one leg 22 of garment 10. It shouldbe noted `that the fastener 16 doesv not separate the garment leg 22 butrather starts somewhat above the sewn lower margin 24 of the leg Z2.

The fastener 16 describes a substantially arcuate course from its origin18 upwardly across the back of the garment and then downwardly to aterminal point 28 at the outer side 30 of the other leg 32. Here, itshould be noted, the fastener end 28 goes right through the lower margin34of the garment leg 32. 'Ihe are of the .fastener element 16' inillustrated embodiment curves Vsomewhat above the widestdimensionanticipated when garment is inruse, that is toward the areacorresponding to the small of` theback of the wearer andv above the areacorresponding to the widest part of the hips. This location assures thatthe fastener 16 will not result in raised, protruding lines under tightfitting o uter garments. But placing the arc just Vbelow the widest partwill achieve the same advantage.

Whilethe fastener 1-6 shown in the drawing is of the metallic slidevariety, or zipper, the invention may em. ploy various other types offasteners such as the pres-4 sure lock type (known as Velcro) or theextruded, continuous plastic type. Moreover, the structural effect of aparticularfastener 16, that is, its transverse andr axial tensileresistance or givef can be chosen to `cause either additional conformingand shaping, or to be passive in these respects. y

To diseng'ageY the lower section 14, the slide element 36 of thefastener is moved from the terminal end 28 of the fastener element 16 atthe margin 34 of garment leg 32 along the arc of the element to theorigin 1-8 thereof. Now the lower section 14 is attached at only onejunction point 38 tothe upper sectionl 12. This point 38 is reinforcedto be nonfseparable and to permit positive refastening with only asimple pull on the slide 36;

When detached, the lower section 14 is simply -grasped at its free end40 and pulled forward between the wearers legs thus clearing the lowertorso.

A protective inner band, such as a cushion, pad or lining 42 is providedunder the fastener 16 to protect the wearer of the garment 10 frompossible pinching when the fastener is bein-g closed. This is importantbecause most of the track of the fastener 16 is not visible to thewearer when the garment 10 is in place.

Any desired typeV and number of lgarter attachments 44 may be'used'herewith Also the type. and placement of the fabric panel membersis a question of design choice for a particular garment and it can beseen from the figures thatthe panels there shown continue vertically oneach side of the fastener 16.

YVariations of thispreferred embodiment will now undoubtedly besuggested to those familiar with this art. For example, if the legs 22andA 32 were longer it might well be convenient to close both ends 18and 28 of the slide fastener 16 rather ,than only one end 28. Also,while the drawing illustrates a panty girdle, it is clear that thisinvention may be used with equal advantageA on other foundationgarments, such as corselettes and corsets. Still other changes may bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, litis` my intention to limit the invention only so far as claimed.

I claim:

l. In a foundation garmenthavin-g a front, a back and separatelegopenings, fastening means detachably connecting a rear lower legenclosing section to an upper body section, said fastening means takinga substantially arcuate conguration beginning from the outer side of afirst leg of said garment toward the back thereof, curving upwardly andthen Vdownwardly along said back and Yterminating in a xed end on theouter side of the other leg of said garment, said fastening means fullyopeningV thev said rst leg while leaving the secondV leg openinguninterrupted, whereby said unfastened Alower section may be swung aboutsaid iixed end forwardly to expose a portion ofY the torso of the wearerthereof;

2. A foundation garment having a back, front and leg openings, saidgarment being divided along a pre# determined line in the back thereofinto two detachable parts but permanently connected at a selected pointon an outer side of one leg thereof above and away from the opening forsaid leg, said upper part having a concave margin at the division line,said lower part having a convex margin at the said division linecorresponding to said concave margin, fastening means at the saidmargins of a substantially continuous type,fsaid fastening meansterminating at the said point and opening rst at the. outer side ofanother leg.` Y

3. A foundation garment having a generally body enclosing configurationwith a front and back, means within said garment creating two separateleg openings, each of said openings having an outer side, said garmentbein-g divided into an upper and lower section on a plane cutting saidbody enclosing shape diagonally on a division line between the outerside of each. said leg opening and a point approximately half way up theback of said garment,k said upper and lower sections being detachablyconnected along said division line by fastening means, said fasteningmeans permanently connecting saidupper and lower sections at one of saidouter sides of said leg openings, the other of said outer sides beingdetachable when said fastening means is opened.

4. A foundation 'garment having a generally body enclosing congurationwith a front and back,- means within said garment creating two separatelegY openings, each of said openings having an outer side, said garmentbeing, divided into an upper and lower section on a plane cut-v tingsaid body enclosing shape diagonally on a division line between theouter side o-f each of said leg openings and a point approximately halfway up the back of said garment, said upper and lower sections beingdetachably connected along said `division lille by fastening means,lsaid fastening means permanently connecting said upper and lowersections at the outer side of oneV of said legopenings, whereby saidlower section may be swung clearV of the vwearers lower torso when said'fastener is opened, the terminal and origin of said fastener whichpermanently connects said upper and lower sections at one of the outersides serving as hinges for said lower section.

5. A bifurcated foundation garment having a body enclosing configurationwith a front and back formed ,integral with each other to provideopposite side torso-enclosing portions, said garment having separatelegs each provided with a leg opening and said body being divided alonga predetermined line into a body-enclosing` section and a lower leg andbuttook enclosing section,A said dividing line commencing at the bottomedge. of Vone of said legs andl extending upward and then downwardacross said back to a point immediately adjcent to but short of thebottom edge of the other leg, and releasable fastening means connectingsaidsections along said dividing line. Y

6. A foundation lgarment as defined by claim 5 wherein said fasteningmeans is a slide fastener, and furtherV including an innerband along themargin of one of said sections for protecting the wearer of the garmentfromA possible pinching by the fastener when the fastener isV beingclosed.

7. A foundation garment having a body-enclosing conliiguration with afront and back, means within the garment for creating twoY separateYlegs each provided witha4 leg opening, each of said legs having an outerside, said garment being divided Vinto an. upper and a. lower section ona plane cutting said body-enclosing section along a curved division lineextending between the outer side of' each leg opening and arcuatelycurving from one leg opening to the other, with its highest point ofcurvature approximately half' wayY up the back of the garment,fasteningimeans in the form of a slide fastener for detachablyconnecting the upper and lower sections 5 along said division line, theslide fastener having a closed References Cited in the le of this patentend terminating short of one of the leg openings, the other end of theslide fastener extending completely UNITED STATES PATENTS through thesecond Vlef; Opening and permitting the les in 2,293,627 Polesie Aug.1s, y1942 which said second leg opening is lprovided to be opened, 5 2454 963 Combs Nov 30 1948 the slide fastener including an operatingslider for open- 218961633 McKee July' 28 1959 ing the sections of thefastener by movement of the slider toward the closed end of thefastener.

